Technology in the Music Education Classroom - Resource

Posted onJune 25, 2009 
Filed under Lesson ideas, Music, Technology and tagged book, classroom, lesson plan, resource, Technology | 2 Comments

In one of my previous posts I spoke about the ridiculous amount of podcasts I have been downloading lately.  One of them is a group of podcasts from presentations that Amy M. Burns has done at different MENC/TI:ME conventions.  In the presentation she gave on technology in the elementary classroom she introduced her book and a few lessons from it.

I purchased this book from SoundTree as soon as I could get my hands on it and all I can say is “WOW!”  It is an absolutely amazing resource.  There are dozens of plans (all in a wonderful lesson plan format) for all different technology skill levels and student grade levels.  I have created lesson plans for every grade level for the next year and cannot wait to use them.  They can be used from Pre-K through high school and many can be adapted for grades other than what they are specified for.

I highly suggest picking up a copy of this book.  If you order it from SoundTree it will be a discounted $16.95 rate, and right now they are offering free ground shipping if you order with a credit card and live in the Continental US.  It’s practically a steal for dozens of lessons your students will LOVE (and ones that won’t take a ton of time to plan for you!)

Camp PBWorks

Posted onJune 23, 2009 
Filed under Lesson ideas, Music, Technology and tagged blog, PBWorks, PBWorks Summer Camp, wiki | 1 Comment

So, like all educators (or at least most that I know) I have decided to take the summer for Professional Development.  I have enrolled myself in a few webinars and such, but the one I am most excited about is the PBWorks Summer Camp.

The “Camp” consists of 5 weeks of webinars which take place on Tuesday afternoons from 1-2pm (EST) and then some homework that will take approximately 3-4 hours throughout the week.  I’m pretty sure that is dependent on skill level (either that or I am doing it wrong!)

This afternoon was the first webinar and I did hit some trouble signing in.  Luckily, a Twitter colleague McTeach helped me out by sending me the audio code so I could at least call in.  I’ll have to figure out what the issue was before next week’s webinar.  The audio-only call made it a little difficult to follow, but from what I understood it was a little difficult to follow anyway.  They talk really fast!!!  I have completed the homework and am ready for week 2.

I am really into the Wiki idea because I think it’s great that the students can contribute.  I’m still a little fuzzy on the bonus to either a class Wiki or a class Blog.  Our district will be subscribing to Edublogs Campus edition next year, and I’ve already been using Edublogs for a year for both my elementary and high school groups.  The ISD blocks all Wikis and, although I put in a site request to have them unblocked, there is no guarantee that may happen.

Do you have this problem at your school/district and, if so, do you have any tips for me?  Also, do you see Wikis or Blogs to be more user-friendly for the students and useful in the classroom?

Podcasts for Music Education

Posted onJune 21, 2009 
Filed under Education, Lesson ideas, Music, Technology and tagged Academic Superstore, EdTech, Music K8, podcasts, SoundTree | 1 Comment

I have become a podcast junkie as of late, getting my hands on anything I possibly can relating to either technology in music education, administration (principalship) or leadership.  While conversing on Twitter the other day, 7th_tone thanked me for retweeting a music education tweet by Dr. Frankel from the MENC 2009 Convention podcasting the Opening Plenary Address on his blog.  I realized how fortunate we are to have such a wonderful resource in our colleagues and the podcasts they create for us.  I have compiled a list of my favorites (in alphabetical order by my iTunes library), please comment and add yours!

1.  Academic Superstore’s Music Education Resources: This fantastic website creates short podcasts based on new technology and programs that are appropriate to the music classroom.

2.  Amy M. Burns: From Music Education/Music Technology Blog, Amy has been a general music teacher for the last 12 years and is the President-Elect of TI:ME.  She shares her resources, presentations and classroom accomplishments via her podcasts.  You can learn SO much about technology and what students can do, it is definitely worth a listen!

3.  Dr. Frankel’s Podcast Page: The Managing Director for SoundTree and a former middle school instrumental and general music teacher, Dr. Frankel shares technology lessons and products from his classroom as well as presentations and clinics and conferences.

4.  EdTech Musician Podcast: Twin brothers Todd and Andy discuss all things music, education and technology.

5.  Music K-8 Music Sampler Podcast: If you don’t subscribe to the Music K8 magazines you absolutely must.  This sampler gives a fantastic listen to new and popular pieces available in the magazines and for download.

6.  Musically and Technically Speaking: Brenda Muench and Carol Broos discuss music technology and classroom music education between themselves and with various guests.

7.  MusTech.net’s Technological Music and Musings Show: Dr. Joseph Pisano is “Podcasting Excellence in Music, Education and Technology” discussing copyright, DRM, ethics, live sound mixing and all things important the educators who use the internet and music for anything!

8.  Music Tech for ME: V. Keith Mason has started this resource to “educate, inform and instruct music educators in using and implementing music technology.”

Preparing my classroom for maternity leave

Posted onApril 30, 2009 
Filed under Music | 1 Comment

As I was working on clearing out the unread articles on my Google Reader, I ran across Amy Burns’ article on Maternity Leave: What the music teacher should know… This caught my attention because I will also soon be on maternity leave.  This is my second so I am a little more prepared for it now than I was the first time, but I thought I would check the article out and see if I was missing anything.

Amy has some great ideas on what to have prepared for your long-term substitute, and I am sure that her substitute will be quite pleased with all that she has left.  The following is a list of things I included in my binder as well as the information Amy suggested in her article:

- Lesson plan templates: ready for each week I will be gone.  They aren’t filled out, but there is one for each week so they can be turned in to the office.

- Lesson ideas/sample lessons:  there is nothing worse than being a creative person and having someone else tell you what you have to do in a situation.  Many music teachers have better ways than I to teach something, why not let them do what they are comfortable with!  These sample lessons give something to fall back on in the event they need an idea.

- Overheads and worksheets: Anything the sub will need for assessments is copied and placed in this section.

- Transportation/field trip request forms: Filled out, signed and approved.  All ready to go!

- The schedule of a particular class period: Just the main flow of the classroom.

- Grading system and rubric: there is already one included in assessments.  This is just a little cheat-sheet!

- How to use the computerized grading system and how to prepare grade reports.

- Filler activities the students enjoy.

- How to use the technology of the classroom: S-Video link, student computer information, iPods, SMARTboards, etc.

- A chart by grade level with the curriculum topic to be covered, and example lesson, assessment and which marking period it needs to be completed in.  I was gone for part of the 3rd marking period and the beginning of the 4th when I had my daughter.  We have 8 elementary schools in our district and we all assess the same benchmarks within the same marking periods.

I felt that my substitute had the information she needed to do my job well, and after reading Amy’s article I felt a little more secure in that as well.  Here is my dilemma for the next leave: I am due on September 5, before we return to school for the year.  Normally that would not be a huge issue, but our district does not complete specials scheduling until the week prior to school starting.  Our school has too many classrooms for me to be able to cover in a week, so I have a traveling teacher for the overflow.  Depending on the schedule of the traveling teachers, which days and times they can come and how many minutes they have available determines which grades and which sections they teach.  How well can I prepare someone else for grades, lessons, assessments, etc. when I don’t even know what they’ll teach!

I welcome any and all comments and suggestions, especially if you have dealt with this situation or one similar to it before.

Music for kids AND adults!

Posted onJanuary 15, 2009 
Filed under Lesson ideas, Music | 3 Comments

While catching up on my Google Reader, I ran across and article in Rachel Rambach’s “Listen and Learn” regarding great music written for children which is enjoyed by adults.  This is incredibly important if you aren’t going to go crazy in your job or at home.  My 10-month-old daughter really enjoys when Disney’s Imagination Movers are on TV, I’m pretty sure it’s the bright colors and music.  I don’t mind it because the music doesn’t make me want to pull my hair out!

As a music teacher, this is especially important!  If you are going to teach 5 classes the same thing, you best be sure it won’t make you crazy or irritable before you’ve finished.  The students don’t deserve that!!!  The example on Rachel’s blog was Jack Johnson’s “Sing Alongs and Lullabies”.  This is a great album!  Another fantastic one that I really enjoy but we use ad nauseum in my classroom is Barenaked Ladies’ “Snacktime”.  This album has many different musical styles that cover topics such as allergies, food we don’t like, numbers, etc.

Rachel has her fave, I’ve got mine - what is yours?

7 Things Meme

Posted onJanuary 13, 2009 
Filed under Administration, Music and tagged 7 things meme | 4 Comments

I’ve been tagged for the 7 things meme and I’m a little at a loss for what to say!  I think I’m an open book for the most part, but I suppose my online readers may not know much about me, so here goes nothing!

1.  I am deathly afraid of open water (and I live in Michigan - “Great Lakes, Great Times”) and public speaking (yes, I am a teacher.)  I took speech class 3 times at the University level and dropped the first two because of my intense fear.  I finally completed it my last semester - it was my last class.

2.  I am a font of useless information.  Stupid facts, highway exit numbers, you name it - I’ve memorized it!

3.  I have terribly low self-esteem.  It causes me great difficulty in building relationships and networking as well as in my work as a musician and an educator, but I’m working on it.

4.  My fetish?  Office supplies.  I received my first briefcase for Christmas at the age of 10.  A boyfriend once

bought me an entire Easter basket full of Post-It’s, highlighters, pens, pencils and more.  My desks (at home and in both rooms at work) have a full supply of labels, file folders and enough drawers and organizers to make even Office Max jealous.  It’s a sickness

5.  I spent my honeymoon in Spain and England.  I have about 15 University credits in Spanish (I was on my way to a minor) so we visited Seville, Madrid and London (for fun!) on our 10-day honeymoon.

6.  I have performed at Carnegie Hall.  I played piano for an Irish Catholic artist named Liam Lawton.  It was an amazing experience and one I will never forget.  We are scheduled to be performing with him on a tour in Ireland in March of 2010.

7.  I don’t know how to say “no.”  It is actually a running joke at work and in my family.  I am currently on the board of directors for a non-profit music organization, the Vice Chair of my University School of Education Alumni Affiliate, NCA co-chair in my elementary building, Public Relations co-chair for our Educational Association (the Union), accompanist and teen choir director at my church as well as working 50-60 hours a week as an elementary/high school music director.  Did I mention I have a husband and 10-month-old daughter?  It is a lot of work, but I can say 100% that it’s all my fault.

There it is, me in a nutshell.  I think this was a great exercise!  Here are the rules: tag 5 people and comment on their blog that they’ve been tagged.  I tag the following people:

1.  Ryan White

2.  Amy M. Burns

3.  Ms. Gallant

4.  Paul Bailey

5.  Kyle Gardner

The Official List of 100 ME Bloggers

Posted onJanuary 6, 2009 
Filed under Music | 1 Comment

At the beginning of 2008, Dr. Joseph Pisano put out a challenge to the music educators of the world, a challenge to create a list of 100 music education bloggers by December 31, 2008.  The complete and official list is out and it contains a fantastic amount of tips, tricks and thoughts from 100 music educators.  I am proud to be #62.

The **Official** list of 100 ME Bloggers can be found at http://mustech.net/2009/01/01/a-bold-new-year-the-official-list.  Be sure to check them out - there is a TON of great information out there!!!

Music Education Blog Carnival Edition for January

Posted onJanuary 1, 2009 
Filed under Music and tagged Education, Music, music education blog carnival, pedagogy, performance, Technology | 3 Comments

Loneliest Posts of 2008

Posted onDecember 30, 2008 
Filed under Music | Leave a Comment

As I was going through my Google Reader today (and trying to catch up on the last month!) I ran across a post by Joel at So You Want to Teach?.  This post pulled out his articles of 2008 which hadn’t received any comments giving them the chance to redeem themselves, become the posts they always thought they could be.  I thought it was a great idea and have borrowed it from him.  

Before we get there, here are the three top-commented posts for 2008:

When Technology Blocks Technology

Halloween Poem Podcasts

Computer Games in the Music Classroom

 

Below are my posts from 2008 (organized by month) which didn’t receive any comments.  Please help them and give them confidence that they were as helpful as they wanted to be!  

I’m sure they would appreciate it

 

I hope these posts help new readers who may not have caught them the first time around!  

Happy New Year!

 

June

Snow Days in June??

MK8 Recorder Karate Rock Star

 

July

Lesson Plan Templates

 

August

SMART Boards for the Music Classroom

Great Jazz Unit

 

October

New Experiences

 

November

Take it All In

Promoting Your New School Blog

December

Review of the Kodak Zi6

 

 

Review of the Kodak Zi6

Posted onDecember 30, 2008 
Filed under Education, Lesson ideas, Music, Technology and tagged camcorder, Flip, Kodak Zi6, Technology | 5 Comments

While on Plurk one day, a conversation caught my eye about a Flip which would be used for student projects in the classroom.  A Flip, if you don’t know, is a brand of handheld digital camcorder.  Many fine ideas ran through my head as I was reading this conversation.  My grade 5 students do many projects which we video record, and it is such a pain to drag in our camera, record it and then play it back (after connecting it to the television set with the A/V cords).  I’m already dreading it just thinking about it.  I also thought of some great projects that Carol Broos had done with her 6/7 grade students which my co-teacher and I thought would be a fantastic project.  The Flip also connects via USB to the computer for easy upload to our school music website where we like to post our projects.

I posted a question on Plurk asking what you could do with a Flip in the classroom (see original conversation by clicking here) and was amazed, not only at the conversation, but at the sheer number of Flip-like products there.  I settled on the Kodak Zi6, mostly because of expandable memory capabilities and rechargable AA batteries.  I was asked by my Plurk crew to write a blog detailing my out-of-the-box thoughts, but my husband did such a great job I thought I would share his instead.  I do think this will be a helpful tool in my classroom and I am excited to get back to work and try it out!

I would love to hear how you will use your Flip, Kodak or the like in your classroom.  Please leave a comment and let me know what you’re looking forward to doing with it!

From This That and Everything Else by Ryan White

KODAK Zi6 Pocket Video Camera

•December 21, 2008 • No Comments

So we just purchased this as a second video camera to try out during the holidays. We found the price  varying drastically from store to store but settled on Walmart due to price and return policy. I will  post comments and footage as soon as the 2 AA batteries charge…

KODAK Zi6 Pocket Video Camera.

First impressions:

If you expect to use this camera right out of the box, PLEASE pick up an SD Card before you leave the store. With 128MB of internal storage, you will get about 20 seconds of recording time in HD. Doing some smart shopping you can find SD/SDHC cards for very reasonable prices. (Check out www.newegg.com for great prices on storage)

We used this during the holiday season for short videos and quick snapshots when needed. I am very impressed with the quality of picture from such a inexpensive camera. Included with the camera is a easy to use tripod. This is a must have if you want a steady shot. Without this many videos may have a shaky picture and continues to get worse as you zoom in.

Battery life is not what I expected. With a little more than 35 minutes, the recharge unit (included with the camera) will come in good use. I did not see any difference in battery life while used in VGA, HD, or HD60 modes. Over all, the battery life , or lack thereof, did not kill this camera for me.

The Kodak Zi6 is a good camera for quick videos of the family, out and about action shots, or an easy way to get some videos on YouTube. Ease of use and extreme portability makes this a great gift for anyone.

Sensor type		1 / 4.5–type 1.6 MP CMOS
Lens		4.1 mm, f/2.8, fixed focus
Zoom		2X digital
Display		2.4 in. LCD
Storage		128 MB internal memory*, SD/SDHC card expansion slot
Focus modes		normal, close-up
Focus range		normal: 27.6 in. (70 cm)–infinity close-up: 2 in. (5 cm)
White balance		auto
Video capture		H.264 (MOV), AAC LC
Video quality		HD60: 720p at 60 fps—16:9 HD: 720p at 30 fps—16:9 (default) VGA
Still format		JPEG
Picture quality		3 MP (stills, interpolated)
Microphone		mono
Speaker		yes
I/O interface		USB 2.0 (high speed); component output; AV output
Tripod mount		1/4 in. standard
Power		(2) AA batteries (Ni-MH recommended)
Dimensions		64 × 114 × 23.5 mm (2.5 × 4.5 × 0.9 in.)
Weight		107 g (3.8 oz) without batteries
Warranty
one year

Next Page →

• Recent Posts

  • Technology in the Music Education Classroom - Resource
  • Camp PBWorks
  • Podcasts for Music Education
  • Preparing my classroom for maternity leave
  • Music for kids AND adults!
  • 7 Things Meme
  • The Official List of 100 ME Bloggers
  • Music Education Blog Carnival Edition for January
  • Loneliest Posts of 2008
  • Review of the Kodak Zi6
  • Music Education Blog Carnival
  • Mobilize Your Blog!
  • Promoting Your New School Blog
  • 30 Days to Being a Better Blogger
  • Take It All In
• 

• Blogroll

  • A Music Education Blog Collective
  • Be a Techie
  • Catalysts & Connections - Evan Tobias
  • Education Rambler
  • K-12 Resources for Music Educators
  • MusTech.Net!
  • MusTech.Net! 100 ME (Music Education) Bloggers
  • Teach 42
  • The Music Educator’s Network
  • The Music Teacher’s Blog
  • This, That and Everything Else

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  Education in Music by Theresa C White is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License. Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available by emailing the author here.